Place.

One of the driving passions behind the Hermit Ram is the seeking out of Pinot Noir planted on active clay limestone soils. The activity in the soil promotes a salinity and acidity in the wine which surpasses tannins for structure.

Ultimately this structural profile drives an incredible link between the flavours of there sultant wine and the conditions unique to that site. The wines can be haunting and fine yet salty and assertive. They tell a story about their little patch of dirt.

To make certain that the story they tell is true, all the wines are made with as little interference as possible and bottled with a minimal amount of Sulphur.

Pinot Noir 2017 Limestone Hills

This wine is the first produced under this label. It comes from Gareth Renowden’s tiny, super close planted vineyard deep in the Waipara Gorge. It is an intriguing site. The soil is made up of limestone rocks and clay marl. It has high active lime through the profile.

The fruit is farmed naturally with no synthetic sprays. It is picked quite late as the site is amongst the coolest in North Canterbury. The combination of the lateness of this site and the beautiful active limestone soils creates a wine that is delicate, saline, and other worldly.

The fruit is 100% destemmed to vat. Only indigenous yeasts are used. The fermentation is carried out over 6 weeks on skins. The extractions are very gentle in order to promote the ultra-delicate aromas this wine has. The wine is matured and undergoes natural malolactic in ancient hogsheads and is bottled unfined and unfiltered after the next vintage. 30 ppm SO2 Total.

This wine is aromatically very complex. The aromas are less about fruit but more about limestone, salinity and truffles. Very autumnal. The palate is lithe a layered.It will continue to unfold in the glass to give a hugely rewarding drinking experience.